Monthly Archives: June 2011

“How was your trip”?
Thats what everyone is asking. So here are two take home thoughts for you, that I hope can encourage your journey into the heart of community!

I could not help but see Nica through the eyes of community and the eyes of a child.

First, I saw God’s heart for the orphan in the midst of a community! There are those in every community who walk aimlessly wishing for someone to love them and care like family! One evening our team was sitting in central park when Josh my 10 year old son came up to me and asked if he could have my coke? I look at him and said you have your own, why do you want mine? Then he went on to tell me there were two boys sitting on the edge of the park who looked homeless and we wanted to treat them to a coke. Wow I was amazed at his heart for the orphan and his desire to know these boys! I watched as he and his friend Sam Shive spent an hour with these boys, learning how to fold long leaves into grasshoppers and flowers. They could not speak the same language, but yet they still spoke “boy” with one another for quite sometime. The next day they spent more time with one of the boys, and embraced as they walked away! I saw God’s heart through Josh and Sam, and wish to be even a bit that gracious toward people in need!

The next thing I learned is that to truly help people, we need to empower them to be all that they are created to be! Often times as Americans we think we go to help the people of third world countries get their acts together. This is not the way it goes, we need the third world experience and relationships as must if not more that they need us or our money! It is important to understand that relationship is two ways and we need to truly care and be cared for! As I watched my kids say good by to the boys in the home, I was reminded of how quickly we can build relationships that last forever, if we will remember to love first and not make our trips about “projects”! Most individuals in the world are able to discern true caring verses the kind of caring that is all about making ourselves feel better! It was great to watch my kids love unconditionally in Nica., really blessed this father’s heart! This is a pic. of my kids during our goodbye with the boys from the home. Again if you would like to learn more about the boys home, visit:
Boys home in Nica.

A book I would highly recommend:
“When Helping Hurts” by Corbett &. Fikkert

The book is about how to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor or yourself!
amazon link to book

Day four in Masaya and much to share. I arrived with lots of unknowns, and desires in my heart!
Picking up where I left off, heading to meet the boys on the streets and tell them about our home and opportunities for them. We played several games with them, fed them and shared the home with them. They now will have the choice of stopping by and entering into the care of the great people in the home!

The staff and boys in the home are doing really well and getting ready to move to a new house with more room and a large yard to play in. This home is located on the edge of town in a less populated area. This will help with the boys temptations to go back to their old lives. The men and boys on our missions team spent the day forming, mixing and pouring a new 15’X17′ basketball court at the new home all by hand! The boys from the home came to help us, though they did not know that this court will soon be theirs to play on. The move is still a suprize and will be announced soon. We ran short of supplies and ordered more to be delivered only to find out that we still looked short by about 30 square feet of cement mix. The team stopped and prayed and God helped us finish it with just enough and 1 bucket extra! Really it looked impossible to finish with the amount left.

The girls stayed behind at the hotel and served all the ladies who help with the home in one way or another, by doing a spa day for them. Nails, toes, haircuts and massages for them all. They said no one has ever done anything like this for them before, they always serve but have never been served like this! It was such a blessing to see the ladies faces tonight after being pampered all day, they were glowing! Jesus said, He had come to bring good news to the poor and to bind up the broken hearted…this is truly on God’s heart! I sat back and just observed while the people of Masaya took in the love of our team, it is like water to their souls in the midst of a dry and thirsty land. I see the great need for a friend, a mother, a father and most of all the love of a God! It is so clear to me in this land what true and undefiled religion is in the sight of God! Sometimes in the USA we are too comfortable to truly recognize the God’s heart and motivation!

Hope you enjoy the pics and thoughts, one more to come near the end of the trip!
Dan

Good morning from Masaya, Nica., it is sunny and HOT! Getting ready to go visit our boys home here with the team from Golden (26 in all), looking forward to the opportunity to meet “the boys” everyone has talked about for the last couple years. Check out the “I love Nica boys” site:
The Ministry to Nica Boys

Then off to the streets to meet new potential boys for the home! Could be interesting, will be escorted by the local police, ya the dudes with the guns as the kids see it!

will update you with more soon…

43 Churches throughout Arvada, Golden and Lakewood just finished a 3 week sermon series around the idea of being a great neighbor!

Check out our web-site:  www.buildingblocks.us

Our Mayor Jacob Smith invited me to come share with City Council the results of this initiative, it was an honor to explore the opportunity to take this simple idea of creating a community of great neighbors to the next level…

WATCH COUNCIL MEETING CLIP HERE

This Video link will tell you a little bit about the vision of this neighboring movement…

WATCH NOW

” Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Hebrews 13:1,2

In the beginning of May, a man entered our Prayer Center in Golden needing of a place to stay until the 5th of the month. He was working a job in the mountains near Pine, Colorado when he got news that the job was being shut down. He spent 3 days walking from Pine to Golden in hopes of catching a bus to DIA on the 5th when his paycheck arrived in his bank account. We were posed with the question, “Had God sent him to us to care for”? After two long conversations, Christian and I felt like the answer was “Yes”, and we began a 5-day journey with Dwayne.  So we let him live at the center for 5 days.

This man has become a great friend and was a wonderful person to entertain and care for. He was so kind and was willing to lend a hand with anything we were working on, praying for, or just talking about. Dwayne helped do projects up at our church, in my backyard, and at the center. Those of you who met him and had a chance to pour into his life, and allowed him to give into yours, will be forever blessed!

I have tried to reach him after he left and have been unsuccessful, and the thought crossed my mind the other day, “could he have been one of those angels the writer of Hebrews spoke about?” Only God knows, but it reminds me how important it is to practice hospitality and entertain those God brings into our lives!  Let’s together be willing to be interrupted and find the Master’s plans around us! -Dan